2023

• ---

  Krüger, M., de Leal, D. C., Randall, D. & Tolmie, P. (2023)Torn Many Ways: Politics, Conflict and Emotion in Research

  , Publisher: Springer Nature
  [BibTeX] [Abstract]

  This edited collection brings together a range of experiences from the field, largely in the context of CSCW and HCI. It focuses specifically on the experiences of people who have worked in difficult, tense, delicate and sometimes conflictual and dangerous settings. The tensions faced by researchers and, more importantly, how they manage to deal with them are often under-remarked. Unlike the bulk of published ethnographic work, the chapters in this book deal more explicitly with the various practical problems that researchers with varying degrees of experience face. Our aim in this book is to give a voice to researchers who have sometimes contended with unexpected issues and who sometimes have had to face them on their own. We explore incidents which may entail emotional conflict, embarrassment and shame, feelings of isolation, arguments with other members of a team, political pressures, and ideological confusions, to name but a few. Senior figures in research laboratories and elsewhere may provide intellectual direction and support but may not always recognise the personal and problematic nature of qualitative enquiry undertaken by relatively inexperienced researchers. The chapters examine feelings of isolation, the difficulty of ‘taking sides’, the negotiation of personal, ethical, and political pressures in the field, and dealing with conflicting visions of what the research should be about. The book is a resource for those embarking on the challenges of working in unfamiliar or difficult settings and moreover should act as a reminder to academics who might have forgotten the practical issues that researchers can face and how they deal with them.

  @book{kruger_torn_2023,
  title = {Torn {Many} {Ways}: {Politics}, {Conflict} and {Emotion} in {Research}},
  isbn = {978-3-031-31642-5},
  shorttitle = {Torn {Many} {Ways}},
  abstract = {This edited collection brings together a range of experiences from the field, largely in the context of CSCW and HCI. It focuses specifically on the experiences of people who have worked in difficult, tense, delicate and sometimes conflictual and dangerous settings. The tensions faced by researchers and, more importantly, how they manage to deal with them are often under-remarked. Unlike the bulk of published ethnographic work, the chapters in this book deal more explicitly with the various practical problems that researchers with varying degrees of experience face. Our aim in this book is to give a voice to researchers who have sometimes contended with unexpected issues and who sometimes have had to face them on their own. We explore incidents which may entail emotional conflict, embarrassment and shame, feelings of isolation, arguments with other members of a team, political pressures, and ideological confusions, to name but a few. Senior figures in research laboratories and elsewhere may provide intellectual direction and support but may not always recognise the personal and problematic nature of qualitative enquiry undertaken by relatively inexperienced researchers. The chapters examine feelings of isolation, the difficulty of ‘taking sides’, the negotiation of personal, ethical, and political pressures in the field, and dealing with conflicting visions of what the research should be about. The book is a resource for those embarking on the challenges of working in unfamiliar or difficult settings and moreover should act as a reminder to academics who might have forgotten the practical issues that researchers can face and how they deal with them.},
  language = {en},
  publisher = {Springer Nature},
  author = {Krüger, Max and Leal, Debora de Castro and Randall, David and Tolmie, Peter},
  month = oct,
  year = {2023},
  note = {Google-Books-ID: 1xvcEAAAQBAJ},
  keywords = {Computers / General, Computers / Social Aspects, Computers / User Interfaces, Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural \& Social, Social Science / Anthropology / General, Social Science / General},
  }

• ---

  de Leal, D. C. (2023)Becoming an Activist, Becoming a Researcher

  IN Krüger, M., De Castro Leal, D., Randall, D. & Tolmie, P. (Eds.), Torn Many Ways: Politics, Conflict and Emotion in Research Cham doi:10.1007/978-3-031-31642-5_4
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  In this chapter, I reflect on my own career and in particular the challenges I faced as, firstly, an activist and, secondly, an academic. The journey has been difficult at times but ultimately I have come to see that activism and academic work can reflect back on each other in productive ways.

  @incollection{leal_becoming_2023,
  address = {Cham},
  series = {Human–{Computer} {Interaction} {Series}},
  title = {Becoming an {Activist}, {Becoming} a {Researcher}},
  isbn = {978-3-031-31642-5},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31642-5_4},
  abstract = {In this chapter, I reflect on my own career and in particular the challenges I faced as, firstly, an activist and, secondly, an academic. The journey has been difficult at times but ultimately I have come to see that activism and academic work can reflect back on each other in productive ways.},
  language = {en},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  booktitle = {Torn {Many} {Ways}: {Politics}, {Conflict} and {Emotion} in {Research}},
  publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro},
  editor = {Krüger, Max and De Castro Leal, Debora and Randall, David and Tolmie, Peter},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-31642-5_4},
  keywords = {Activism, Brazil, Colonialism, Intellectual career},
  pages = {41--53},
  }

• ---

  de Leal, D. C. (2023)At the edge – a decolonial perspective of the digital world

  Doctoral {Thesis} doi:10.25819/ubsi/10382
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Some places remain on the periphery of the World System (Wallerstein, 2004), participating in it but not fully absorbed by it. However, it is argued that there is almost no place in the planet in the 21st century left untouched by global capitalism (Moore, 2016; Moore, 2017). This dissertation delves into the economic life of two pericapitalist (Tsing, 2015b) community in the Amazon rainforest. One is a traditional rural village in the Brazilian Amazon region, caught between tradition on the one hand and modernity, coloniality and development on the other. The other is a community of former members of the Colombian guerrilla group Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia – Popular Army (FARC-EP), who are faced with the difficult task of building a new economic, political and social life for themselves after the peace agreement, and build relations with the modern world system they have formerly been in armed rebellion against. Through ehtnographic inquiries into the practices of the community members, the dissertation details how these two distinct rural Latin American communities meet the spread of the capitalist world system and manage their positions in relation to it. It pays special attention to the role of digital technologies, like mobile phones and internet, in these processes. To make sense of the practices of these communities, it engages with conceptual and analytical tools and theories that attempt to explain the global situation, including decolonial theory and the concept of coloniality/modernity, Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System Analysis, and Anna Tsing’s concept of Pericapitalism. I aim to describe what can be done about this global condition that decolonial writers address, by combining these ideas with ethnographic description, and outline specifically what it means for the interventions of HCI activists-scholars and designers. The contribution of the thesis is as follows: Firstly, it provides a detailed analysis of the material practices of two communities at the edge of capitalism. These include a wide variety of economic practices, but also political and social practices. Secondly, it draws attention to the heterogeneous nature of responses to global capitalism, formed from the relationship between specific material practices, new technology and elements of cultural identity. Through the different practices, community members manage to keep their distance from aspects of the World System and globalised capitalism, even resist it, but seek closeness in other moments. Thirdly, building on my ethnographic study and my engagement with the concepts mentioned above, my thesis makes several conceptual contributions, appropriating existing concepts, which include a) the idea of counter-appropriation as a means to describe the practices of FARC-EP members to evade the appropriation of digital technologies against them by the national Colombian army, b) it builds on the idea of social capital to describe how how communities deal with the economic pressures of development (in the Brazilian case) and re-integration into mainstream modern/colonial society (in the Colombian case), and the supportive role of digital media, and c) it addresses lacunae in WSA and decolonial thinking by describing how colonliality/modernity and global capitalism actually spread and encountered by local specific communities, highlighting also the notion of resistance, which especially Wallerstein underplays. Fourthly, it argues for an increased sensibility towards these different relations to capitalism when considering design implications. Consequently, it indicates the need to investigate the economic assumptions contained in HCI initiatives, as well as inside ourselves as HCI researchers, as they might clash with the different ways in which local communities wish to relate to global systems. It argues that close attention to material practice goes some way towards resolving those tensions and, further, provides for an appeal to a more pluralistic views of culture and development (Escobar, 2018).

  @phdthesis{leal_at_2023,
  type = {Doctoral {Thesis}},
  title = {At the edge - a decolonial perspective of the digital world},
  url = {https://dspace.ub.uni-siegen.de/handle/ubsi/2594},
  abstract = {Some places remain on the periphery of the World System (Wallerstein, 2004), participating in it but not fully absorbed by it. However, it is argued that there is almost no place in the planet in the 21st century left untouched by global capitalism (Moore, 2016; Moore, 2017). This dissertation delves into the economic life of two pericapitalist (Tsing, 2015b) community in the Amazon rainforest. One is a traditional rural village in the Brazilian Amazon region, caught between tradition
  on the one hand and modernity, coloniality and development on the other. The other is a community of former members of the Colombian guerrilla group Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia - Popular Army (FARC-EP), who are faced with the difficult task of building a new economic, political and social life for themselves after the peace agreement, and build relations with the modern world system they have formerly been in armed rebellion against. Through ehtnographic inquiries into the practices of the community members, the dissertation details how these two distinct rural Latin American communities meet the spread of the capitalist world
  system and manage their positions in relation to it. It pays special attention to the role of digital technologies, like mobile phones and internet, in these processes. To make sense of the practices of these communities, it engages with conceptual and analytical tools and theories that attempt to explain the global situation, including decolonial theory and the concept of coloniality/modernity, Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System Analysis, and Anna Tsing’s concept of Pericapitalism. I aim to describe what can be done about this global condition that decolonial writers address, by
  combining these ideas with ethnographic description, and outline specifically what it means for the interventions of HCI activists-scholars and designers.
  The contribution of the thesis is as follows: Firstly, it provides a detailed analysis of the material practices of two communities at the edge of capitalism. These include a wide variety of economic practices, but also political and social practices. Secondly, it draws attention to the heterogeneous nature of responses to global capitalism, formed from the relationship between specific material practices, new technology and elements of cultural identity. Through the different practices, community members manage to keep their distance from aspects of the World System and
  globalised capitalism, even resist it, but seek closeness in other moments. Thirdly, building on my ethnographic study and my engagement with the concepts mentioned above, my thesis makes several conceptual contributions, appropriating existing concepts, which include a) the idea of counter-appropriation as a means to describe the practices of FARC-EP members to evade the appropriation of digital technologies against them by the national Colombian army, b) it builds on the idea of social capital to describe how how communities deal with the economic pressures of development (in the Brazilian case) and re-integration into mainstream modern/colonial society
  (in the Colombian case), and the supportive role of digital media, and c) it addresses lacunae in WSA and decolonial thinking by describing how colonliality/modernity and global capitalism actually spread and encountered by local specific communities, highlighting also the notion of resistance, which especially Wallerstein underplays. Fourthly, it argues for an increased sensibility towards these different relations to capitalism when considering design implications. Consequently, it indicates the need to investigate the economic assumptions contained in HCI initiatives, as well as inside ourselves as HCI researchers, as they might clash with the different ways in which local communities wish to relate to global systems. It argues that close attention to material practice goes some way towards resolving those tensions and, further, provides for an appeal to a more pluralistic views of culture and development (Escobar, 2018).},
  language = {en},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.25819/ubsi/10382},
  note = {Accepted: 2023-08-23T07:24:05Z
  Journal Abbreviation: Am Rande – eine dekoloniale Perspektive der digitalen Welt},
  keywords = {thesis},
  }

2022

• ---

  Krüger, M., Carros, F., Ahmadi, M., de Leal, D. C., Brandt, M. & Wulf, V. (2022)Understanding Forestry Practices to Support Climate Adaption

  Adjunct Proceedings of the 2022 Nordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference. New York, NY, USA, Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery, Pages: 1–6 doi:10.1145/3547522.3547677
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Forests and their management practices are under considerable pressure to adapt to a changing climate. This study reports on early results on the adaptation of forests and forestry practices in Europe. Our study confirms the social and situated nature of forestry and climate adaption and found that the absence of appropriate knowledge and the multi-actor nature of the forest are central challenges for the necessary adaptation. These challenges are well known to HCI research and resonate with approaches to knowledge management and participation of multiple actors in design. The forest however also challenges existing approaches in return. This makes the forest a site not just for urgent action to realise its role in climate mitigation, but also for the production of HCI knowledge.

  @inproceedings{kruger_understanding_2022,
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  series = {{NordiCHI} '22},
  title = {Understanding {Forestry} {Practices} to {Support} {Climate} {Adaption}},
  isbn = {978-1-4503-9448-2},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3547522.3547677},
  doi = {10.1145/3547522.3547677},
  abstract = {Forests and their management practices are under considerable pressure to adapt to a changing climate. This study reports on early results on the adaptation of forests and forestry practices in Europe. Our study confirms the social and situated nature of forestry and climate adaption and found that the absence of appropriate knowledge and the multi-actor nature of the forest are central challenges for the necessary adaptation. These challenges are well known to HCI research and resonate with approaches to knowledge management and participation of multiple actors in design. The forest however also challenges existing approaches in return. This makes the forest a site not just for urgent action to realise its role in climate mitigation, but also for the production of HCI knowledge.},
  urldate = {2022-10-07},
  booktitle = {Adjunct {Proceedings} of the 2022 {Nordic} {Human}-{Computer} {Interaction} {Conference}},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  author = {Krüger, Max and Carros, Felix and Ahmadi, Michael and Leal, Debora de Castro and Brandt, Maximilian and Wulf, Volker},
  month = oct,
  year = {2022},
  keywords = {climate, conservation, environmental stewardship, forea, forestry, forests, sustainability},
  pages = {1--6},
  }

• ---

  Bellini, R., de Leal, D. C., Dixon, H. A., Fox, S. E. & Strohmayer, A. (2022)“There is no justice, just us”: Making mosaics of justice in social justice Human-Computer Interaction

  Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY, USA, Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery, Pages: 1–6 doi:10.1145/3491101.3503698
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  The concept of social justice in Human-Computer Interaction has become an emergent domain of practice and research across the past decade. Work has included research efforts into meeting the needs of under-served populations, providing method blueprints for inclusion of marginalised identities, and a call for greater consideration on how positive impact is defined both in and beyond research engagements. While the number of justice-orientated works may have increased, new social forces question what is meant by the term justice in social justice initiatives; asking who is included in how justice is defined, what its goals are and how might we measure it. We offer this workshop as an opportunity to: (a) build conceptual and visual ‘mosaics’ of social justice works in HCI to map out the existing landscape; (b) build a supportive community of HCI researchers, practitioners, activists and designers who work with matters of in/justice to share vocabulary, approaches and expertise with likewise individuals; (c) facilitate critical conversations around meaningful justice-orientated action and practice, and how they might relate to wider justice frameworks.

  @inproceedings{bellini_there_2022,
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  series = {{CHI} {EA} '22},
  title = {“{There} is no justice, just us”: {Making} mosaics of justice in social justice {Human}-{Computer} {Interaction}},
  isbn = {978-1-4503-9156-6},
  shorttitle = {“{There} is no justice, just us”},
  url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491101.3503698},
  doi = {10.1145/3491101.3503698},
  abstract = {The concept of social justice in Human-Computer Interaction has become an emergent domain of practice and research across the past decade. Work has included research efforts into meeting the needs of under-served populations, providing method blueprints for inclusion of marginalised identities, and a call for greater consideration on how positive impact is defined both in and beyond research engagements. While the number of justice-orientated works may have increased, new social forces question what is meant by the term justice in social justice initiatives; asking who is included in how justice is defined, what its goals are and how might we measure it. We offer this workshop as an opportunity to: (a) build conceptual and visual ‘mosaics’ of social justice works in HCI to map out the existing landscape; (b) build a supportive community of HCI researchers, practitioners, activists and designers who work with matters of in/justice to share vocabulary, approaches and expertise with likewise individuals; (c) facilitate critical conversations around meaningful justice-orientated action and practice, and how they might relate to wider justice frameworks.},
  urldate = {2023-10-24},
  booktitle = {Extended {Abstracts} of the 2022 {CHI} {Conference} on {Human} {Factors} in {Computing} {Systems}},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  author = {Bellini, Rosanna and Leal, Debora de Castro and Dixon, Hazel Anneke and Fox, Sarah E and Strohmayer, Angelika},
  month = apr,
  year = {2022},
  keywords = {fairness, justice frameworks, social justice},
  pages = {1--6},
  }

2021

• ---

  Krüger, M., Weibert, A., de Leal, D. C., Randall, D. & Wulf, V. (2021)„What is the topic of the group, please?“ On Migration, Care and the Challenges of Participation in Design

  , Publisher: ACM doi:10.1145/3476050
  [BibTeX] [Abstract]

  An increasing number of people around the world are forced to leave their homes due to the climate catastrophe, regional conflict or poverty. In their new host countries however, refugees and migrants are frequently met by a wide range of challenges, including wider societal participation. The difficulties migrants and refugees face have also increasingly become the topic of HCI and CSCW work. In this paper we report on a three year-long project, involving refugees, migrants and activist supporters in a co-design project to develop tools that aid the process of resettling. Several aspects have challenged equal participation in the project, including divergent motives, unequal power distribution and cultural heterogeneity. Despite these challenges the project outcomes are in use and maintained beyond the project runtime through voluntary actors. We reflect on this discrepancy between process and outcome drawing on the concept of care.

  @inproceedings{kruger_what_2021,
  series = {{CSCW} '21},
  title = {"{What} is the topic of the group, please?" {On} {Migration}, {Care} and the {Challenges} of {Participation} in {Design}},
  volume = {Vol. 5},
  shorttitle = {"{What} is the topic of the group, please?},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3476050},
  abstract = {An increasing number of people around the world are forced to leave their homes due to the climate catastrophe, regional conflict or poverty. In their new host countries however, refugees and migrants are frequently met by a wide range of challenges, including wider societal participation. The difficulties migrants and refugees face have also increasingly become the topic of HCI and CSCW work. In this paper we report on a three year-long project, involving refugees, migrants and activist supporters in a co-design project to develop tools that aid the process of resettling. Several aspects have challenged equal participation in the project, including divergent motives, unequal power distribution and cultural heterogeneity. Despite these challenges the project outcomes are in use and maintained beyond the project runtime through voluntary actors. We reflect on this discrepancy between process and outcome drawing on the concept of care.},
  publisher = {ACM},
  author = {Krüger, Max and Weibert, Anne and Leal, Debora de Castro and Randall, Dave and Wulf, Volker},
  month = oct,
  year = {2021},
  doi = {10.1145/3476050},
  }

• ---

  de Leal, D. C., Krüger, M., Reynolds-Cuéllar, P., Caicedo, A., Gómez, C., Randall, D. & Wulf, V. (2021)Growing Together, Remaining Apart: The Role of Digital Technology in Former Guerrilla Fighters‘ Social Capital

  Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction., Pages: 331:1–331:24 doi:10.1145/3476072
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  In this paper, we present an account of how FARC-EP ex-combatants are using digital technology in the process of reincorporating into Colombian society. We report findings showing how this technology mediates the difficult task of transitioning from a culture of opposition to civilian members and active political actors. Using the concept of social capital as a framework, we investigate the intersection between the use of digital tools and developing cultural and economic practices among these groups during this transitional period. Reflecting on the bonding and bridging aspects of social capital, we describe how ex-combatants draw on substantial social capital from their former lives as a guerrilla army in order to strengthen their position in these new circumstances, and their cautious and difficult creation of new social ties with wider Colombian society. We contribute to the CSCW discourse by discussing the crucial role digital tools, previously not available to these groups, play in sustaining, re-growing and building social capital of communities in post-conflict periods.

  @inproceedings{leal_growing_2021,
  series = {{CSCW2}},
  title = {Growing {Together}, {Remaining} {Apart}: {The} {Role} of {Digital} {Technology} in {Former} {Guerrilla} {Fighters}' {Social} {Capital}},
  volume = {5},
  shorttitle = {Growing {Together}, {Remaining} {Apart}},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3476072},
  doi = {10.1145/3476072},
  abstract = {In this paper, we present an account of how FARC-EP ex-combatants are using digital technology in the process of reincorporating into Colombian society. We report findings showing how this technology mediates the difficult task of transitioning from a culture of opposition to civilian members and active political actors. Using the concept of social capital as a framework, we investigate the intersection between the use of digital tools and developing cultural and economic practices among these groups during this transitional period. Reflecting on the bonding and bridging aspects of social capital, we describe how ex-combatants draw on substantial social capital from their former lives as a guerrilla army in order to strengthen their position in these new circumstances, and their cautious and difficult creation of new social ties with wider Colombian society. We contribute to the CSCW discourse by discussing the crucial role digital tools, previously not available to these groups, play in sustaining, re-growing and building social capital of communities in post-conflict periods.},
  urldate = {2021-10-25},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the {ACM} on {Human}-{Computer} {Interaction}},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro and Krüger, Max and Reynolds-Cuéllar, Pedro and Caicedo, Amparo and Gómez, Carlos and Randall, Dave and Wulf, Volker},
  month = oct,
  year = {2021},
  keywords = {FARC, reincorporation, social capital, technological use, transition},
  pages = {331:1--331:24},
  }

• ---

  de Leal, D. C., Krüger, M., Ahmadi, M., Appiah, J. K., Gómez, R., Courtney, D., Daee, A., Ciciolli, M., Hieber, L., Hossain, M., Lee, J., Plogmann, R., Pinto, L., Sinnathurai, S., Yepez, D. & Wulf, V. (2021)HCI’s Role in the Capitalocene: Lessons Learned from an HCI Master Course Across the Globe

  IN LIMITS Workshop on Computing within Limits doi:10.21428/bf6fb269.67a8d057
  [BibTeX] [Abstract]

  Various concepts have attempted to capture the nature of the contemporary political-economic system of globalised capitalism and its disastrous consequences for the planet, including World System Analysis or the Capitalocene. Especially Decolonial thinkers see its roots in colonialism. The resulting modernity/coloniality structures many aspects of human life everywhere, including gender identities, relationships amongst humans and with nature. Technology plays a vital part, requiring reflections on how HCI researchers can react to these challenges. In a class of an HCI master program, we have attempted to jointly begin to understand HCI’s role in the capitalocene by studying relevant concepts and empirically investigating specific local yet connected phenomena. With participants being distributed across the globe, we were able to study different shared yet locally specific phenomena inspired by multisited ethnography. In this paper, we report on the structure and experience of the class as well as our findings.

  @article{leal_hcis_2021,
  title = {{HCI}’s {Role} in the {Capitalocene}: {Lessons} {Learned} from an {HCI} {Master} {Course} {Across} the {Globe}},
  shorttitle = {{HCI}’s {Role} in the {Capitalocene}},
  doi = {10.21428/bf6fb269.67a8d057},
  abstract = {Various concepts have attempted to capture the nature of the contemporary political-economic system of globalised capitalism and
  its disastrous consequences for the planet, including World System
  Analysis or the Capitalocene. Especially Decolonial thinkers see its
  roots in colonialism. The resulting modernity/coloniality structures
  many aspects of human life everywhere, including gender identities, relationships amongst humans and with nature. Technology
  plays a vital part, requiring reflections on how HCI researchers
  can react to these challenges. In a class of an HCI master program,
  we have attempted to jointly begin to understand HCI’s role in
  the capitalocene by studying relevant concepts and empirically
  investigating specific local yet connected phenomena. With participants being distributed across the globe, we were able to study
  different shared yet locally specific phenomena inspired by multisited ethnography. In this paper, we report on the structure and
  experience of the class as well as our findings.},
  journal = {LIMITS Workshop on Computing within Limits},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro and Krüger, Max and Ahmadi, Michael and Appiah, Jason Kofi and Gómez, Ricardo and Courtney, Daniel and Daee, Ata and Ciciolli, María and Hieber, Lena and Hossain, Md and Lee, Jeongmin and Plogmann, Ramona and Pinto, Liliana and Sinnathurai, Sasmitha and Yepez, Darinka and Wulf, Volker},
  month = jun,
  year = {2021},
  }

• ---

  de Leal, D. C., Strohmayer, A. & Krüger, M. (2021)On Activism and Academia: Reflecting Together and Sharing Experiences Among Critical Friends

  Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY, USA, Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery, Pages: 1–18 doi:10.1145/3411764.3445263
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  In recent years HCI and CSCW work has increasingly begun to address complex social problems and issues of social justice worldwide. Such activist-leaning work is not without problems. Through the experiences and reflections of an activist becoming academic and an academic becoming an activist, we outline these difficulties such as (1) the risk of perpetuating violence, oppression and exploitation when working with marginalised communities, (2) the reception of activist-academic work within our academic communities, and (3) problems of social justice that exist within our academic communities. Building on our own experiences, practices and existing literature from a variety of disciplines we advocate for the possibility of an activist-academic practice, outline possible ways forward and formulate questions we need to answer for HCI to contribute to a more just world.

  @inproceedings{leal_activism_2021,
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  series = {{CHI} '21},
  title = {On {Activism} and {Academia}: {Reflecting} {Together} and {Sharing} {Experiences} {Among} {Critical} {Friends}},
  isbn = {978-1-4503-8096-6},
  shorttitle = {On {Activism} and {Academia}},
  url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445263},
  doi = {10.1145/3411764.3445263},
  abstract = {In recent years HCI and CSCW work has increasingly begun to address complex social problems and issues of social justice worldwide. Such activist-leaning work is not without problems. Through the experiences and reflections of an activist becoming academic and an academic becoming an activist, we outline these difficulties such as (1) the risk of perpetuating violence, oppression and exploitation when working with marginalised communities, (2) the reception of activist-academic work within our academic communities, and (3) problems of social justice that exist within our academic communities. Building on our own experiences, practices and existing literature from a variety of disciplines we advocate for the possibility of an activist-academic practice, outline possible ways forward and formulate questions we need to answer for HCI to contribute to a more just world.},
  urldate = {2023-10-24},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2021 {CHI} {Conference} on {Human} {Factors} in {Computing} {Systems}},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro and Strohmayer, Angelika and Krüger, Max},
  month = may,
  year = {2021},
  keywords = {social justice, academic practice, activism, reflexivity},
  pages = {1--18},
  }

• ---

  Krüger, M., Weibert, A., de Leal, D. C., Randall, D. & Wulf, V. (2021)It Takes More Than One Hand to Clap: On the Role of ‘Care’ in Maintaining Design Results.

  Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, NY, USA, Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery, Pages: 1–14 doi:10.1145/3411764.3445389
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Within Participatory- and Co-Design projects, the issue of sustainability and maintenance of the co-designed artefacts is a crucial yet largely unresolved issue. In this paper, we look back on four years of work on co-designing tools that assist refugees and migrants in their efforts to settle in Germany, the last of which the project has been independently maintained by our community collaborators. We reflect on the role of pre-existing care practices amongst our community collaborators, and a continued openness throughout the project, that allowed a complex constellation of actors to be involved in its ongoing maintenance and our own, often mundane activities which have contributed to the sustainability of the results. Situating our account within an HCI for Social Justice agenda, we thereby contribute to an ongoing discussion about the sustainability of such activities.

  @inproceedings{kruger_it_2021,
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  series = {{CHI} '21},
  title = {It {Takes} {More} {Than} {One} {Hand} to {Clap}: {On} the {Role} of ‘{Care}’ in {Maintaining} {Design} {Results}.},
  isbn = {978-1-4503-8096-6},
  shorttitle = {It {Takes} {More} {Than} {One} {Hand} to {Clap}},
  url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445389},
  doi = {10.1145/3411764.3445389},
  abstract = {Within Participatory- and Co-Design projects, the issue of sustainability and maintenance of the co-designed artefacts is a crucial yet largely unresolved issue. In this paper, we look back on four years of work on co-designing tools that assist refugees and migrants in their efforts to settle in Germany, the last of which the project has been independently maintained by our community collaborators. We reflect on the role of pre-existing care practices amongst our community collaborators, and a continued openness throughout the project, that allowed a complex constellation of actors to be involved in its ongoing maintenance and our own, often mundane activities which have contributed to the sustainability of the results. Situating our account within an HCI for Social Justice agenda, we thereby contribute to an ongoing discussion about the sustainability of such activities.},
  urldate = {2023-10-24},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2021 {CHI} {Conference} on {Human} {Factors} in {Computing} {Systems}},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  author = {Krüger, Max and Weibert, Anne and Leal, Debora de Castro and Randall, Dave and Wulf, Volker},
  month = may,
  year = {2021},
  keywords = {Sustainability, Care, Co-Design, Maintenance, Migration, Participatory Design},
  pages = {1--14},
  }

• ---

  Papke, B., Schädler, J., Reichstein, M. F., Strünck, C., Wieching, R., Wulf, V., Bertelmann, L., Mayerle, M., Freese, B., Krüger, M., Weibert, A., Randall, D., de Leal, D. C., Foelske, L., Danz, D., Pinatti, F., Bittenbinder, S., Müller, C., Roder, S., Konieczny, E., Windisch, M., Hering, S. & Kappeler, M. (2021)Schwerpunkt: Partizipation verwirklichen – Zur Weiterentwicklung Sozialer Dienste im analogen und digitalen Raum

  IN SIEGEN:SOZIAL – Analysen, Berichte, Kontroversen (SI:SO) Jg. 26, H. 1-2, 2021 doi:10.25819/ubsi/10368
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Digitale Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien gewinnen als fester Bestandteil zunehmend Bedeutung in den alltäglichen Lebenswelten einer wachsenden Zahl von Menschen. Ihre Entwicklung und selbstverständliche Nutzung schreiten in einem immer rasanteren Tempo voran; die vielfältigen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten adressieren längst alle Lebensbereiche. Während der Digitalisierung von Kommunikationsprozessen zuweilen demokratisierende Kräfte zugesprochen werden, scheint eine kritische Reflexion möglicher Potentiale und Auswirkungen digitaler Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien auf Teilhabedynamiken in unterschiedlichen Lebensbereichen dringend erforderlich. Die Autorinnen und Autoren möchten mit dieser SI:SO-Schwerpunktausgabe einen Beitrag zu einer kritischen Reflexion digitaler Innovationen und ihrer Auswirkungen auf die zukünftige Gestaltung sozialer Dienste leisten. Mit der zweisprachigen Ausgabe ist zudem die Hoffnung verbunden, diesen Beitrag auch einem europäischen und weltweiten Publikum zugänglich zu machen.

  @article{papke_schwerpunkt_2021,
  title = {Schwerpunkt: {Partizipation} verwirklichen - {Zur} {Weiterentwicklung} {Sozialer} {Dienste} im analogen und digitalen {Raum}},
  issn = {4672-5768},
  shorttitle = {Schwerpunkt},
  url = {https://dspace.ub.uni-siegen.de/handle/ubsi/2576},
  doi = {10.25819/ubsi/10368},
  abstract = {Digitale Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien gewinnen als fester Bestandteil zunehmend Bedeutung in den alltäglichen Lebenswelten einer wachsenden Zahl von Menschen. Ihre Entwicklung und selbstverständliche Nutzung schreiten in einem immer rasanteren Tempo voran; die vielfältigen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten adressieren längst alle Lebensbereiche. Während der Digitalisierung von Kommunikationsprozessen zuweilen demokratisierende Kräfte zugesprochen werden, scheint eine kritische Reflexion möglicher Potentiale und Auswirkungen digitaler Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien auf Teilhabedynamiken in unterschiedlichen Lebensbereichen dringend erforderlich. Die Autorinnen und Autoren möchten mit dieser SI:SO-Schwerpunktausgabe einen Beitrag zu einer kritischen Reflexion digitaler Innovationen und ihrer Auswirkungen auf die zukünftige Gestaltung sozialer Dienste leisten. Mit der zweisprachigen Ausgabe ist zudem die Hoffnung verbunden, diesen Beitrag auch einem europäischen und weltweiten Publikum zugänglich zu machen.},
  language = {de},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  journal = {SIEGEN:SOZIAL - Analysen, Berichte, Kontroversen (SI:SO) Jg. 26, H. 1-2, 2021},
  author = {Papke, Birgit and Schädler, Johannes and Reichstein, Martin F. and Strünck, Christoph and Wieching, Rainer and Wulf, Volker and Bertelmann, Lena and Mayerle, Michael and Freese, Benjamin and Krüger, Max and Weibert, Anne and Randall, Dave and Leal, Debora de Castro and Foelske, Laura and Danz, Dominic and Pinatti, Fabiano and Bittenbinder, Sven and Müller, Claudia and Roder, Sascha and Konieczny, Eva and Windisch, Marcus and Hering, Sabine and Kappeler, Manfred},
  year = {2021},
  note = {Accepted: 2023-08-02T13:36:24Z},
  }

• ---

  Collective, C. J., de Leal, D. C., Molina Leon, G., Maestre, J. F., Williams, K., Wong-Villacres, M., Reynolds-Cuéllar, P., Oswal, S. K., Cerratto Pargman, T. & Sharma, V. (2021)Citational Practices: Interrogating Hegemonic Knowledge Structures in Computing Research in Latin America

  X Latin American Conference on Human Computer Interaction. New York, NY, USA, Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery, Pages: 1–6 doi:10.1145/3488392.3488411
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Citations are nodes in the networks of knowledge we create. Portals to conversations with the past and bonding material with the scholarship of the present. Choosing who we cite is a practice signaling who we recognize and respect as a knowledge source. Therefore, we recognize citations as a relational practice. As this relational characteristic of citing is mediated by wealth we distribute across those who we cite, it is imperative to interrogate how just these practices are. Thus, we ought to engage with Citational Justice. Building on recent work discussing citational practices within HCI, we use the opportunity of this workshop to expand this conversation into deeper reflection on how we cite and the practices and infrastructures surrounding citations. Our goal with this workshop is two-fold. First, to create a common language to collectively reflect, interrogate our own citational practices and reverberations, while fleshing out concrete steps to make these practices just in our work and communities we are part of. Second, to invite participants to re-imagine citational practices and the systems and infrastructures necessary to make such practices feasible. We invite a diverse group of participants from the CLIHC community interested in examining their citational practices and the systems surrounding them.

  @inproceedings{collective_citational_2021,
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  series = {{CLIHC} 2021},
  title = {Citational {Practices}: {Interrogating} {Hegemonic} {Knowledge} {Structures} in {Computing} {Research} in {Latin} {America}},
  isbn = {978-1-4503-8489-6},
  shorttitle = {Citational {Practices}},
  url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3488392.3488411},
  doi = {10.1145/3488392.3488411},
  abstract = {Citations are nodes in the networks of knowledge we create. Portals to conversations with the past and bonding material with the scholarship of the present. Choosing who we cite is a practice signaling who we recognize and respect as a knowledge source. Therefore, we recognize citations as a relational practice. As this relational characteristic of citing is mediated by wealth we distribute across those who we cite, it is imperative to interrogate how just these practices are. Thus, we ought to engage with Citational Justice. Building on recent work discussing citational practices within HCI, we use the opportunity of this workshop to expand this conversation into deeper reflection on how we cite and the practices and infrastructures surrounding citations. Our goal with this workshop is two-fold. First, to create a common language to collectively reflect, interrogate our own citational practices and reverberations, while fleshing out concrete steps to make these practices just in our work and communities we are part of. Second, to invite participants to re-imagine citational practices and the systems and infrastructures necessary to make such practices feasible. We invite a diverse group of participants from the CLIHC community interested in examining their citational practices and the systems surrounding them.},
  urldate = {2023-10-24},
  booktitle = {X {Latin} {American} {Conference} on {Human} {Computer} {Interaction}},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  author = {Collective, Citational Justice and Leal, Debora de Castro and Molina Leon, Gabriela and Maestre, Juan F. and Williams, Kristin and Wong-Villacres, Marisol and Reynolds-Cuéllar, Pedro and Oswal, Sushil K. and Cerratto Pargman, Teresa and Sharma, Vishal},
  month = nov,
  year = {2021},
  keywords = {citational justice, citations, HCI, inclusivity, knowledge production, latin america},
  pages = {1--6},
  }

2019

• ---

  de Leal, D. C. (2019)Tecnologias de Comunicação de Dados Letais

  Anais Estendidos do Simpósio Brasileiro de Fatores Humanos em Sistemas Computacionais (IHC)., Publisher: SBC, Pages: 174–175 doi:10.5753/ihc.2019.8426
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Studying armed political struggles from a CSCW perspective can throw the complex interactions between culture, technology, materiality and political conflict into sharp relief. Such studies highlight interrelations that otherwise remain under-remarked upon, despite their severe consequences. The present paper provides an account of the armed struggle of one of the Colombian guerrillas, FARC-EP, with the Colombian army. We document how radio-based communication became a crucial, but ambiguous infrastructure of war. The sudden introduction of localization technologies by the Colombian army presented a lethal threat to the guerrilla group. Our interviewees report a severe learning process to diminish this new risk, relying on a combination of informed beliefs and significant technical understanding. We end with a discussion of the role of HCI in considerations of ICT use in armed conflicts and introduce the concept of counter-appropriation as process of adapting one’s practices to other’s appropriation of technology in conflict.

  @inproceedings{leal_tecnologias_2019,
  title = {Tecnologias de {Comunicação} de {Dados} {Letais}},
  copyright = {Copyright (c)},
  url = {https://sol.sbc.org.br/index.php/ihc_estendido/article/view/8426},
  doi = {10.5753/ihc.2019.8426},
  abstract = {Studying armed political struggles from a CSCW perspective can throw the complex interactions between culture, technology, materiality and political conflict into sharp relief. Such studies highlight interrelations that otherwise remain under-remarked upon, despite their severe consequences. The present paper provides an account of the armed struggle of one of the Colombian guerrillas, FARC-EP, with the Colombian army. We document how radio-based communication became a crucial, but ambiguous infrastructure of war. The sudden introduction of localization technologies by the Colombian army presented a lethal threat to the guerrilla group. Our interviewees report a severe learning process to diminish this new risk, relying on a combination of informed beliefs and significant technical understanding. We end with a discussion of the role of HCI in considerations of ICT use in armed conflicts and introduce the concept of counter-appropriation as process of adapting one's practices to other's appropriation of technology in conflict.},
  language = {pt},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  booktitle = {Anais {Estendidos} do {Simpósio} {Brasileiro} de {Fatores} {Humanos} em {Sistemas} {Computacionais} ({IHC})},
  publisher = {SBC},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro},
  month = oct,
  year = {2019},
  note = {ISSN: 0000-0000},
  pages = {174--175},
  }

• ---

  Freitas, L., Neto, M., Muller, F. F., de Leal, D. C., Abelém, A. & Klautau, A. (2019)Desenvolvimento de redes comunitárias na região amazônica com uso de redes em malha sem fio através da plataforma LibreMesh

  IN Anais do Computer on the Beach, Pages: 807–808
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  Abstract. Currently, there are about 3.6 billion people in the world without any kind of Internet access. Parallel to this, we have the connectivity as a funda- mental part for insertion of the individual in a globalized society. Thus, with the understanding of Internet access as a basic right of citizenship, the con- cept of community networks arises. This network is characterized by low cost, minimal complexity, ease of deployment and expansion, as well as the active participation of the beneficiary community in its development. This study in- tends to describe the process of implementation of a community network with application of wireless mesh network using the LibreMesh free platform in the community of Boa Vista do Acara´ in Para´.

  @article{freitas_desenvolvimento_2019,
  title = {Desenvolvimento de redes comunitárias na região amazônica com uso de redes em malha sem fio através da plataforma {LibreMesh}},
  copyright = {Copyright (c) 2019 Anais do Computer on the Beach},
  issn = {2358-0852},
  url = {https://periodicos.univali.br/index.php/acotb/article/view/14425},
  abstract = {Abstract. Currently, there are about 3.6 billion people in the world without any kind of Internet access. Parallel to this, we have the connectivity as a funda- mental part for insertion of the individual in a globalized society. Thus, with the understanding of Internet access as a basic right of citizenship, the con- cept of community networks arises. This network is characterized by low cost, minimal complexity, ease of deployment and expansion, as well as the active participation of the beneficiary community in its development. This study in- tends to describe the process of implementation of a community network with application of wireless mesh network using the LibreMesh free platform in the community of Boa Vista do Acara´ in Para´.},
  language = {pt},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  journal = {Anais do Computer on the Beach},
  author = {Freitas, Lorena and Neto, Moacir and Muller, Francisco F. and Leal, Debora de Castro and Abelém, Antônio and Klautau, Aldebaro},
  month = may,
  year = {2019},
  pages = {807--808},
  }

2018

• ---

  de Leal, D. C. & Wulf, V. (2018)Going beyond the use of internet in a village in the Amazon region

  Anais Estendidos do Simpósio Brasileiro de Fatores Humanos em Sistemas Computacionais (IHC)., Publisher: SBC doi:10.5753/ihc.2018.4222
  [BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF]

  In this paper I briefly describe my ongoing PhD work. Together with a rural community in the Brazilian Amazon I study their use patterns of internet applications and jointly improve the technical internet infrastructure in this remote area. My work serves to support their desire for increased resilience, and sheds light on how the culture of a technology and the culture of its recipients meet and how processes of adaption can be supported by HCI researchers.

  @inproceedings{leal_going_2018,
  title = {Going beyond the use of internet in a village in the {Amazon} region},
  copyright = {Copyright (c)},
  url = {https://sol.sbc.org.br/index.php/ihc_estendido/article/view/4222},
  doi = {10.5753/ihc.2018.4222},
  abstract = {In this paper I briefly describe my ongoing PhD work. Together with a rural community in the Brazilian Amazon I study their use patterns of internet applications and jointly improve the technical internet infrastructure in this remote area. My work serves to support their desire for increased resilience, and sheds light on how the culture of a technology and the culture of its recipients meet and how processes of adaption can be supported by HCI researchers.},
  language = {en},
  urldate = {2023-10-25},
  booktitle = {Anais {Estendidos} do {Simpósio} {Brasileiro} de {Fatores} {Humanos} em {Sistemas} {Computacionais} ({IHC})},
  publisher = {SBC},
  author = {Leal, Debora de Castro and Wulf, Volker},
  month = oct,
  year = {2018},
  note = {ISSN: 0000-0000},
  }